


Nobody is from Nowhere

by MeBeVioliner



Category: Star Wars, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, No Porn, flowershop au, i dont knw much about wisconsin, sorry kids, waukesha is a real place
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-03-05 11:33:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13386942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeBeVioliner/pseuds/MeBeVioliner
Summary: Benjamin Solo has been enjoying the past twenty years of his life to a modest extent- more so tolerating his existance than enjoying it. Go to small school, get a small job, go to bigger school, get a bigger internship, get a bigger job. He currently falls between the phases of 'bigger school' and 'internship-' until a new history student rolls into Waukesha, Wisconsin and compromises his promising position.





	1. Chapter 1

     It’s too cold, too quiet for even his liking, and too late for him to be still sitting in the cafe. Ben shuffles his papers, knocking his too-long legs against the table as he stands, and nods at tonight's barista as he drops his coffee mug off at the counter- God knows she had been waiting on him for long enough so that she could close the store. He’d ended up doing more work than he had anticipated, but his essays were in, to his utmost satisfaction, an hour shy of their midnight deadlines.

“Have a good night, Maz,” he called over his shoulder, seeing her wave him off as she haphazardly tossed his mug into the sink.

     Ben knew she was a kind woman. Somewhere, deep in her heart, she had the patience to deal with his antics, and he could appreciate that kind of dedication. She had been the head of the cafe since his first cup of coffee, nearly six years ago. It had been horribly made by one of her subordinates and tasted like flavored dishwater. Regardless, the way she talked him down from his irritation had made him want to come back the next morning.

     Tonight, Ben walked the short few blocks from the Constellation Coffee shop to his dorm in silence, with nothing on his mind but the way the pavement felt beneath his shoes. His school work was finished for the semester; he was off of work for the next two days; his only two friends were both leaving town for the next week on their vacations. Even his rigorous process applying to the Smithsonian was on hold until New Years. For the first time in months, he had no obligations or worries that needed his attention.

     Perhaps he’d check in with his mother this weekend. She’d certainly love to have dinner while his father was away at work, delivering military supplies in Vancouver. Maybe he would go see a movie by himself. Get an early start researching his next semesters subjects, or finally assemble the desk he had bought at the start of October.

      _Wishful thinking_ , Ben scoffed, chuckling to himself as he walked down the hallway to his room. Ben’s feet dragged more the closer he got to the dorm, the exhaustion of the day finally catching up to him. As he shoved the door open and relished in the silence of the abandoned space, he collapsed onto the couch, content to watch the headlights below as the passed by.

 

     His phone awoke him with a harsh tone that he hadn’t yet bothered to change. Ben sat up, aware that he was still on the couch wearing yesterday's clothes, and slapped his hand on the nearby table where he’d tossed his glasses as he fumbled with the ‘answer call’ button on his phone.

     “Ceethree called out today,” Maz’s voice came through the phone, “Can you come in?”

     “I have plans this morning,” Ben said, lying back on the couch.

     She laughed through the phone, a noise that sounded like wind passing through cracked floorboards. “No, you don’t. You never do, sunshine.”

     Damn his inability to be social. “When do you need me?”

     “Now would be nice, but I’d settle for ten o‘clock.”

     He pulled the phone from his face, squinting at the numbers that read 9:40. “So generous of you.”

     “I try to be a benevolent god,” she laughed again before hanging up.

 

     Ben shouldered the cafe door open with a bit more force than necessary, rolling up his sleeves to his elbows as he slid into rhythm behind Chewbacca. The foreign man flipped pancakes with a grace that Ben would call elegant. Maz was at the front of the shop, taking orders and holding four conversations at once as she passed tickets down the line to where Kylo gently nudged Arrnold off the espresso machine.

     He plucked a tragic latte from the shorter mans hands, pouring it down the sink. “It’s okay, really R2, you did your best. I’m sure the other ones were fine.”

     R2 made a face of disbelief before turning to help Chewbacca separate egg whites, quietly muttering to the larger man as he pulled a piece of eggshell from the bowl and flicked it across the room.

     Ben pulled two shots of espresso, mixing flavors in a small mug while he waited as he eyed the crowd of the morning. Many of his teachers came here for their morning pick-up, chatting with their coworkers and avoiding their students that frequently occupied the same space. Many local business owners also stopped in for drinks, or to post advertisements on the store bulletin board and talk up their promotion for the week, which nobody was ever honestly interested in. However, the professors were often happy to talk to these people, who were fellow high school graduates that never left the small Wisconsin town. His uncle, who owned the flower shop across the street, was oddly absent from his usual seat.

     "Have I already missed Luke?" Ben called to Chewbacca.

     Chewbacca said something in Portuguese to R2, who replied in Galician, before they both looked at Ben and shrugged.

     Down the counter, Maz pushed a line of tickets in Ben's direction, and he was unsurprised to find he could immediately match the tickets to various faces in the room. Two mocha lattes for the couple who worked at the hardware store, a vanilla cappuccino with cinnamon for the librarian, an iced quad shot for an engineering student who stayed over the break, and a caramel hazelnut milkshake for-

     For who?

     Ben's eyes snapped up to scan the room, locking onto a woman who was leaning against her uncle's trademarked table. Her shoes were sturdy leather, most likely steel toe, laces hidden beneath cuffed jeans that were aged at the knees. A large grey t-shirt was tucked in at the waist, giving away her lean frame, and accenting the contrast between the golden tan of her skin and the pale fabric. Her hands held her phone tight to her chest, thumbs oddly still, and Ben looked to her face to see her watching him with the utmost displeasure. He'd been looking at her for far too long.

     The caramel bottle slipped from his hand and he fumbled to catch it, knocking a canister of whipped cream clear off the counter. Thankfully, Chewbacca managed to lurch just in time to grab the can and fix Ben with a baffled look.

     Ben snatched the whipped cream from his hands, topping off the milkshake and popping on a lid as he called out the order. He ducked behind Chewie, muttering 'oh wow thanks for catching that, that was awesome, you're so good at your job, how's it going' as the woman grabbed her drink and walked briskly out the door. She crossed the street without looking for traffic, entering Luke's flower shop after a moments hesitation.

     The tips of his ears were practically on fire as he carried on with the days tasks. As the morning rush died down, Ben caught himself glancing across the street, where he noticed a ragtag motorcycle parked. The poor thing seemed ancient, cruiser style, but rather small- almost like a military bike. Its saddlebags looked full, with a suitcase strapped to the back. The plates were from out of state. He finally saw Luke, walking in front of the windows of the store, with the woman close behind. He held the door open for her, laughing at something she said as she hopped onto the bike at started it with ease. Ben froze, chest tight as he saw her duck down, doubling over before throwing her head back in a hearty laugh. Her entire face lit up, eyes scrunched tightly before relaxing int an easy grin. She pulled a helmet out of one of the bags, stuffing her hair inside of it before slipping it over her head.

     Luke waved and made his way across the street as she pulled out of the parking lot. The bike roared, dulling to a hum as she passed the shop and faded down the boulevard. And, once she was gone, Ben finally noticed Luke pulling open the front door to the cafe, ducking his head in to see who was working and which regulars were still haunting their usual spots. Ben sighed, more of a content noise than an annoyed one. "Good morning, Uncle."

     "Morning, Ben," Luke said, nodding at Maz, who tossed him his daily bottle of milk. "Aren't you going back to Milwaukee for the break?"

     He shook his head, pulling the curls out of his face. "I'd rather stay here and get the extra two weeks of work."

     "That sounds ridiculous," Luke said, sitting at his table and popping the cap off of his drink. "My new hire is just like you, though. Kids, these days."

     "Who'd you find that would put up with you?" Ben said, putting his rag and sanitizer back in the cleaning cabinet. Luke was a notoriously hard boss, rarely able to keep trainees around for more than a week before they bolted. He always doubted their commitment to the cause, and suspected that they underestimated the importance of caring for plants. Ben was one of his victims- his freshman year of college, he'd tried to work with his uncle, but had lost his temper when Luke asked him to reorganize their entire capacity of seeds alphabetically. Ben had initially done so, a tedious and aggravating task, and been ready to go home after his exhausting day, until Luke said that he had specifically asked for the seeds to be organized by their Latin names.

     Ben had disagreed. Terracotta pots were thrown. The shop was closed for two days afterwards.

     "She's just moved here from Nevada," Luke said, "she hasn't heard those awful rumors about me yet."

     "The girl with the bike?"

     He tilted his bottle at Ben before taking a swig. "That's the one!"

     Ben nodded, fussing with his hair as Chewbacca snorted behind the counter. "She, uh, seems nice."


	2. Chapter 2

Rey plucked her aviators from the counter, pushing them snuggly against her bun as she ducked out of the apartment and into the sun. It was colder than she'd been expecting, and she’d been expecting it to be pretty fucking cold- and somehow, it was still humid when she stepped out. The fog seemed to be frozen in the air, almost like snow that wouldn’t fall.

She twirled her keys around her finger before dropped them into the pocket of her jacket, content to walk the two miles instead of risking her neck taking the bike out in weather like this. The morning smelled like winter, crisp and harsh, like breathing in could be enough to chill her bones.

Weaving in and out among the ther students, she tucked in an ear bud, pleasantly surprised to find a good song starting on her playlist. Rey had only been in town for a week but got the vibe that all of the radio stations were more or less, well, horrible. All the music was too pop-ish for her taste, too many student disk jockeys running the scene. Rey bobbed her head a bit and slid her feet in rhythm to a forgotten song by a forgotten artist, eyeing the ancient brick buildings that lined the streets.

She crossed the road at an actual stoplight, feeling a bit too fresh in town to get called out for jaywalking, and spotted a car pulling into the flower shop lot. Probably Mr. Skywalker.

_ Call me Luke _ , she heard him grumble in the back of her head, remembering how he flicked a gnat out of the air as he finnicked with a row of petunias,  _ ‘Mr’ anything makes me feel prehistoric _ .

But that seemed weird, so she’d probably just refer to him as ‘sir.’ Maybe ‘boss,’ seeing how things go.

The jittery beetle creaked as it came to a stop, and Rey watched the older man kick open the front door to the shop without even bothering to unlock it- though she realized it was unlikely he’d locked it in the first place. The neon sign out flickered to life, letter by letter, reading ‘WELCOME’ when she got the feeling that the sign was meant for anyone but her.

This town was beyond her. She was past the point of ‘out of her element’- Rey was a bird flying over the ocean, struggling to keep her head above water. Everywhere she went, she was surrounded by people that blended in. Her boots were too heavy, laugh too loud, humor too unabashed for the people she’d encountered so far. When she’d handed money to an elderly woman at a coffee shop, the woman had paused and actually felt her hand, shocked by the callouses that covered her palms.

Even the young man that made her coffee had looked at her like some kind of carnival attraction. He must’ve been staring at her for some time before she noticed, but when she finally caught his eye, he fumbled, avoiding her gaze. She had that effect on the people around here, for some reason. Except for Mr.- Luke. Except for Luke.

He shook her hand when she walked into the store, feigning interest in where she came from- a nowhere town in Nevada, all desert and no flowers- before finally saying what she’d needed to hear the past three days she’d been driving across the country, eyes on her rear-view mirror.

“Honey, I don’t care where you’re from,” he said, looking at her intently. “You need to show me where you want to go.”

And she decided that she did, in fact, want this job.

Today, she wandered into the shop, calling good morning to Luke as she exchanged her jacket for an apron, and set to watering the geraniums.

“How’s the apartment?” Luke asked from across the room.

She laughed, remembering how the handle to her sink had come off in her hand that morning. “It’s somewhere to sleep.”

Luke snickered, making a comment on how charming the place sounded.

Rey loved to watch him work. Despite it still being one of her first shifts, she’d seen him work wonders every time. Flowers just seemed to open under his touch, vines springing back to life at his will and command. His palms, she noticed, were calloused, and had dirt caked under the nails. Scars lined the backs of his hands. She absently picked at the oil and mud beneath her own, and wondered about where he had been before this sleepy little flower shop.

She swept the floor, swinging the broom as she hummed to a beat, twirling on her toes and grinning when she caught Luke singing along. The day went on, sun rising over the glass roof and coating the greenhouse in a cozy afternoon glow, and she realized that holy shit, she was starving.

“There’s a coffee shop right across the street,” Luke suggested, leaning on the shop counter as he organized gardening books. “My asshole nephew works there.”

“Yeah? Which one is he?”

“Tall, dark, and gloomy.”

Reys mind flipped past images of the woman, the short man in the tinfoil hat, the cook- the barista that had been sizing her up. “I think I know the one.”

“He’s a little shit, but he makes pretty good coffee. Bitter is as bitter does, I guess.”

 

 

Rey shifted her weight from one foot to the other, eyeing the menu with uncertainty. Cappuccino? Wasn’t he in Scarface? Maybe it was a specialty drink, like the Saturday Night Live Ben and Jerry’s flavor. Rey adored that ‘Americone Dream’ shit. Chocolate covered bits of waffle cone? Fantastic. Especially mixed in with caramel-

“What can I get for you, sweetheart?”

Oh, god, she was next in line. It was the same woman who’d been working her first day in town. The wrinkles in her face made her look too wise, too certain, like she knew things that Rey certainly did not want her to know.

“Caramel hazelnut milkshake, right?”

She glanced at the barista without turning her head, suddenly aware of his presence.

He passed a mug of coffee to an older gentleman, muttering for him to be careful because it was freshly brewed and he knew that his arthritis makes his hands shake, and looked back at her. His hair was pulled back into a tight bun, and she noticed a faint spattering of freckles over his nose.

Something cinched in her throat. “Yes.”

He nodded to the woman behind the register, who raised her eyebrows. “Maz, you can put this one on my tab.”

Rey quickly opened her mouth to object, eager to get more than a single word in on her own order. “That’s not necessary, I don’t-”

“I insist,” he said, flipping a bottle of caramel in his hand.

She squinted at him, flutters immediately dissipating. "Please don't interrupt me."

He squinted back at her. "I was being polite."  


"By interrupting me?"

"By getting you a drink!"

"I was trying to say I didn't want you to pay for my drink."

"Why can't I just make you a free drink?"

"And why do you want to make me a drink?" Rey leaned over the counter, ignoring the older womans concerned noise.

The barista paused.

She continued, "Because you think I'm cute? Because you want a date? Maybe because you were totally staring at my chest yesterday?"

"I was reading your shirt!" He leaned over just as far. "Did you ever consider I was trying to be polite by offering the drink?"

"No, that doesn't exactly seem like your thing."

The man scoffed, throwing up his hands. "Alright, Maz, you take this one. I'm going on my break."

He stormed into the back, kicking the door shut behind him.

Rey looked at the older woman, Maz. "He's Luke Skywalkers nephew?"

She nodded slowly. "He takes more after his father's side."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things i almost made this story about:  
> *ben solo, instead of working at a coffee shop, works as a stripper under the name kylo ren  
> *rey, drag racing motorcycles instead of working in a flowershop  
> *r2d2 just being the 'siri'/'JARVIS' of the coffee shop, constantly locking the doors and shutting down the system when ben wants to clock in  
> *chewbacca just being the guy that buys a muffin and stays until closing. nobody knows what he does. he simply exists


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lmao whaddup im back

     He didn’t see her again for about a week. Not that he was waiting, not that he saw her pull into his uncle's shop every morning, or that he watched her leave at night without sparing the cafe a glance- no, never. Absolutely not. But he couldn’t deny that she captured the room when she entered like a persistent and insatiable sunlight, blinding against the dim evening light behind her that turned her messy loose hairs into a golden halo.

     Ben briefly remembered Luke saying she was from a desert state, and he recognized it in her behaviors. Hungry eyes, locking on each exit in the building before settling on neighbors breakfasts; she looks like someone who eats what she can get, a scavenger weaving among sleeping hens. Luke looks frail next to her, however- Ben cannot deny the similarities between them. They both walk with power and the fear of starvation, all bones and teeth and itchy fingers.

     She touched Luke’s elbow, said something Ben couldn’t quite catch, and quickly went to sit at his usual table. She was wearing the same heavy boots that she wore on that first day, same jeans, but a different t-shirt that she’d tied off above her hips. She caught him staring again and stood up.

     “Oh, Jesus,” he muttered, frantically pressing the ‘receipt’ button on the register so that he could leave to make the drink- it wasn’t printing. _Why_ wasn’t it printing? Why would the machine run out of receipt paper at this _exact_ moment? Because God hated him for lying to his mother when he was six-

     “Ben, this is the lady I told you about yesterday,” Luke said, grabbing her shoulder and holding her back as she made her way towards the counter. “Rey. She’ll be working at my shop for a while. I’m sure you two will get along, won’t you?”

     They both stepped up in front of him as the other customer accepted the fact that he wasn’t getting a receipt. Ben handed Luke his milk without a word, and turned to her with a questioning look.

     She nodded, baring her teeth in a smile. “I’m sure we’ll be wonderful friends. I’ll have a caramel hazelnut milkshake, thank you.”

     Ben tried not to feel threatened, giving her change for the drink when she paid and quickly moved to the drink machines as Maz blessedly returned from her break. He make the milkshake without incident, content to take his fifteen-minute break as he passed her the drink, slipping off his apron and hanging it on the back of the storeroom door when Luke said, “why don’t you keep him company while I go pick up this weeks paychecks, since we’ve already closed up the shop for the day?”

     Ben was pretty sure she muttered something quickly under her breath before he waved her off, hearing the bell of the front door chime as he exited. Turning to face her, he was startled to find that she was still standing at the counter, looking immensely displeased. “So, I guess you were being sarcastic about getting along?”

     “You look like an expendable Keanu Reeves stunt double,” Rey said, taking a sip of her milkshake, “And you dress like a Subaru salesman.”

     “So, that’s a yes?” He said as he grabbed his water, waving to Maz and going to sit by the window.

     It was his favorite spot for a variety of reasons. It was the table by his uncles, had a view of the flower shop and the boulevard beyond, and always had dying sunlight cascading through the open blinds at this time of day. She hesitated, opting to lean on the back of the opposite chair and watch him for a moment before the spoke. “If Luke likes you, you can’t be all bad. And,” she took another swig of the milkshake, “you’re pretty good at your job.”

     “I take pride in my work,” was all he said, even though he thought about asking a thousand different questions about who she was, where she was from, how she’d gotten here of all places.

     She tilted her head, drumming her fingers on the lid of her cup as she evaluated him. The loose strands of hair from her bun rolled across her shoulders with the movement. “Have you worked here for a long time?”

     He caught the ‘ _too long_ ’ before it left his mouth, instead opting for a polite “Close to three years, now. What brings you to Waukesha?”

     “Is it obvious I’m from out of town?”

     “Everything about you says ‘out of town,’” He answered honestly.

     Ben knew he would garner a B+ ranking as a person. Slightly taller than average, slightly more attractive than average, slightly broader- just slightly. He was marginally out of the ordinary, as he would be in every small town. In larger towns he wouldn’t even have his ‘slightly’ to carry him. He’d just be average. Rey, however, was above and beyond anything he’d seen in years. More emotion, more power, more compelling and appealing.

     “What can I say? I’m a drifter,” She hummed, finally taking her seat, opting to cross one foot over her knee and lean back against the chair. “I’ve just transferred to the university, here. I’m hoping a higher-ranked school will help me get in internship out east.”

     “I’m actually a sophomore here, too. What’re you studying?”

     “History, with a minor in Arabic. I’m really pushing for an internship at the Smithsonian for the summer. You know they do a co-op with the school to pull in students from other regions of the U.S.? It shouldn’t be too hard, since I’ve heard there’s only nineteen other history majors here- I was the valedictorian of my old university, too, ” she smiled at him, contently sipping her milkshake. “I think I might have this one in the bag.”

     Ben felt his hand seize at his side. The Smithsonian internship.

     She continued, “I was actually sure I’d never be able to do anything out west, but this could be my big break. What are you studying?”

     “History,” he said, without any tact or emotion, letting the word fall out of his mouth like a lead weight.


End file.
